tatsuyuki nagai

You sneaky sneaky bastards. You never fail to place cameos from past works. I almost missed this the first time until I realized that they were palette swapped. Our beloved ladies from Ano Natsu de Matteru have graced the first episode of To Aru Kagaku no Railgun. I do find it a bit silly they still had to change Kanna’s hair color. I guess they didn’t want that vivid dark blue color to stand out. Otherwise we would have assumed we’d be seeing more of her. That silly deterministic trait of anime never fails.

Tatsuyuki Nagai helms the directorial seat for Railgun once again. Should be interesting to see how he treats the second season. I’m not too worried since he’s cut his teeth on heavy hitters like Mushishi, Toradora, and G-On Riders. Yes, I still remember G-On Riders. Makes me realize how long I’ve been trying to be a regular anime blogger. Kinda pisses me off that other people get more traffic than me. But hey, that’s all my fault. It’s hard to get people to tell me why they don’t stick around reading, if they don’t bother reading long enough to find me asking them, “Why aren’t you sticking around?”

I’d love to re-watch G-On Riders and write something about it. Maybe there’s something about it still relevant to this day.

I could have sworn I was watching Toradora. And while I was watching this episode, I thought to myself, “I’m probably right.”

Wasn’t a surprise I was. Anyone who has spent time oogling at director Tatsuyuki Nagai’s works, like Shigofumi or A Certain Scientific Railgun, would find Ano Natsu de Matteru’s art instantly recognizable. It’s that slightly stylized and blocky, but proportionate anatomy that gave it away for me. Nagai directed episodes 2, 7, and 11 of Shigofumi according to ANN. I had to put in the the effort to backtrack and rewatch those episodes since I wasn’t really aware of Nagai’s stuff until Toradora. I also found out that exact head angle in the above screencap is a good way to find the differential markers between styles. To try this out, go watch Amagami (either one, first or current season), Toradora, and Rinne no Lagrange. Keep an eye out for that particular sideways angle, away from the camera, and it completely changes how the artists have to compensate for the art style.

Amagami’s anime art style unfortunately looks like they have cardboard faces most of the time. I’m surprised I managed to stick with that series because I’m picky with what art style I’m willing to watch.. and sometimes I’m not, with exemplary series such as Akikan and Akagi. Occasionally I can spare myself from puking out my soul and intestines by briskly deleting the files from my brain and HDD. Here’s looking at you, Yoake ~ Cabbage Love.

By the way, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes is an awesome series. I can’t believe how retardedly happy I got when I saw it on the seasonal anime previews.

I’ll end on the note that Yukari Tamura is voicing the loli on the left of the top image. It’s almost too natural for her voice — it makes me hnng everytime. It’s unfair.

After a couple of seasons of self-analysis about anime tastes, I have determined that it’s not that my standards have lowered. It’s just the range has increased by a large amount. I wonder what I watched that pushed the bottom out so far that I actually enjoy Milky Holmes. I now cannot fathom how people would hate on Milky Holmes. Is it getting across that I love that show? OH YEA.